Sunday, October 21, 2012

..And The Winning Sidesaddle Is...

The Owen! The Owen sidesaddle fits Sport more correctly than the Knoud does. Sandy and I tried both saddles on him doing a side by side comparason and there was no question!

Todays lesson was such a blast! First I got to ride the favorite horse that I do not own... a stunning mare named Alison. I cannot say enough nice things about this mare! She has motion galore, a georgous fixy way of going and a headset that is to die for! I am not the best rider on her... but I feel like she must know how much I like her .. because we kind of get each other. She is not broke to ride aside.......YET!

Next Sandy and I did our side by side test with the sidesaddles on Sport. Once I started my lesson using the Owen saddle, Sandy gave me a champagne flute half filled with water to hold...and ride with. Wow... I never realized how difficult that was. Actually we did fairly well until one of the grooms dogs ran out in front of us at the trot and then half of my water doused Sport's mane. His ears flipped back at me and I wondered if he thought I had thrown up on him! I just loved this exercise and encourage everyone else to try it. It helped me focus on keeping my hands not just in the correct position - but a really super light touch on those ever important communication lines - my reins!

Next Leslie took over and I rode Chippers. We started out with the Champagne flute and worked on lesson where I had to identify which back leg was moving forward. We then transitioned from a sitting sidesaddle trot to a posting trot and down into an animated show walk. Chippers can be a little bit too laid back at the barn - so sometimes keeping him in 'show mode' at the barn is difficult.. but he was a very good boy today.